A week had passed since the day in which Sandor had to accompany Sansa Stark as her bodyguard to the mall. Since that day he had not seen her again, and he had gone back to his normal routine of being Joffrey's bodyguard. However, he had found himself not being able to stop thinking about the young woman, and the mysterious words that she had spoken to him. He could not get what she had said out of his mind.

"It is not from them from whom I need protection."

What the fuck had that meant. He had reacted by telling her that she did not need worry about the fuckers who killed her father; they had already gotten what they wanted. But Sansa had gone awfully pale when he had said that. For a moment she had looked sick, and terrified, and about to cry.

Probably a reaction to my bad manners and harsh words, nothing more, Sandor told himself. Yes, that was it, nothing more...

That day he was driving his boss Joffrey back to the Red Keep. He hated being also the little prick's chauffeur, but he had no other choice. It was included in his role as the man's bodyguard, and he was getting well paid for it.

He was particularly upset that day, but he was very good at hiding it. It wasn't the first time that he had driven the young politician to meet with his lover, whom he saw in secret. Sandor had never given a fuck about it, but since he met Sansa and saw what a beautiful and kind young lady she was and how lucky the bloody fucker Joffrey was to have such a woman, he felt mad that the imbecile brat was cheating on her. It was most likely that Sansa didn't give a fuck that her fiancée cheated on her, because Sandor strongly suspected that she had no feelings for her future husband, but still... Sandor found it disrespectful.

He knew who the girl was. She was very pretty, with long brunette curls, a beautiful body, a bright smile and a daring look in her pale blue eyes. She was twenty-nine years old, which made her two years older than Joffrey and four years older than Sansa, enough to make her have a lot more experience with the ways of the world than the Stark beauty. Her name was Margaery Tyrell. She was a very famous fashion designer as far as Sandor knew (he had no fucking idea about fashion but that was what he had heard), and she made a lot of money with that. Not only that, but she was the daughter of another very powerful family of politicians, which made her even more attractive in the eyes of Joffrey Baratheon.

She was also the wife of the young man's uncle, Renly Baratheon.

Sandor shook his head lightly and grunted lowly. What a fucked up family...

Of course, it was well known to him that Joffrey wasn't the only man with whom Margaery cheated on her husband. But the rumor was Renly himself knew... and he didn't give a fuck. The reason was simple: he was cheating on her as well. It was well known that Renly was as gay as a man could be, and it was a surprise when he got married to Margaery, but everybody knew that it was a marriage for power. The other rumor was that Renly had a romantic relationship with Margaery's own brother, Loras. It was quite the scandal. If that rumor turned out to be true, half of the girls in the country would be heartbroken. Loras Tyrell was a famous male super model, and had all females (and males) drooling at the sight of him. Sandor hated him with all his guts.

Sandor had the theory that Margaery's intentions were to leave her husband and marry Joffrey Baratheon as soon as he became President. That little bitch had a never-ending thirst for power, everybody knew that. But Joffrey was going to marry Sansa Stark, the daughter of the former vice-President, so Margaery would have to stick with her gay husband.

Sandor had had to wait for almost two hours outside of the apartment that Joffrey had acquired for his little encounters with his lover. Sandor was actually surprised that he was in there two hours, but he waited patiently. Now he was driving the little prick home.

"You are awfully silent, Clegane" Joffrey said then from the back seat.

"I don't have much to say" was the simple answer.

Joffrey liked to talk, specially with Sandor. After all, Sandor had been with him since he was a baby. Some people even dared to say that Sandor had practically raised him, because Robert Baratheon had always been too busy to take care of the child. Joffrey felt comfortable with Sandor, ever though the bodyguard could not stand him.

"Did you have fun having to drive my fiancée around the other day?" Joffrey asked in a mocking tone. Sandor clenched his jaw.

"I was just doing my job" he rasped.

"It must have been boring, she doesn't speak much. It used to not be impossible to shut her up, but that changed rather quickly."

"I can't imagine why" Sandor said, trying to keep his voice from sounding sarcastic. He didn't want any trouble with his boss.

"She is very different from Margaery. More... childish" when Joffrey said that, it seemed like he was saying it with disgust. Sandor wasn't sure, and he frowned.

"Which one do you like more?" he was actually curious about that. Joffrey would be an idiot if he chose Margaery over Sansa.

"Margaery" Joffrey said with a smirk on his face. Sandor almost rolled his eyes. Joffrey was really an idiot indeed, but that was no news. "She... understands me. But Sansa is much prettier. And..." Joffrey made himself more comfortable in the back seat of the black Mercedes, and the smirk on his face grew. Sandor could see him through the rear mirror, and he saw something in Joffrey's eyes that he could not quite identify, but it didn't look good. It was dark satisfaction "...I can also have my fair share of fun with her."

Sandor didn't know what Joffrey meant exactly by that, but he felt suddenly sick, and he didn't know why. He decided not to comment in that.

"What did you think of her?"

"Huh?"

"My fiancée, Sansa" Joffrey said, a little impatient. "What did you think of her? I believe you had never met her."

"I hadn't" Sandor nodded. He had always found it very strange how the girl always locked herself up in her room the entire time. He shrugged. "What do you want me to say? I thought she was a nice girl, a she has a great talent. I'm no fan of music, but I must admit that she has a great voice"

Joffrey raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes, very nice and all that shit..." he said in a bored tone. "But as a man, what did you think of her as a woman?"

Sandor was indeed very surprised by that question. Was his boss actually really asking him what he thought if he liked Sansa Stark? There was no denying that she was beautiful and bloody perfect, Sandor had recognized that since the first moment in which he laid eyes on her at the concert. But he wasn't sure if admitting it out loud to his boss would be a good idea. However, Joffrey was waiting for an answer and he hated to be kept waiting. Besides, Sandor hated liars and he never lied in his life.

"She is a very beautiful woman" he said, maintaining his voice completely neutral. Joffrey seemed satisfied with the answer.

"I thought so. She is very beautiful, but her beauty equals her stupidity."

Sandor snorted.

She is stupid if she is marrying you, he wanted to say, but he didn't.

"At least she is useful" Joffrey added. For the hundredth time, he managed to confuse Sandor. What was that supposed to mean?

Ten minutes passed in silence as Sandor drove through the streets of the capital, until Joffrey spoke again all of a sudden.

"Stop here" he said, and Sandor obeyed. He pulled over and stopped the car next to the sidewalk. "Go and get me today's newspaper."

They were selling the newspapers right in front of where Sandor had parked the car, so he didn't mind getting out of the vehicle and leaving his boss alone for a couple of seconds; he knew nothing bad would happen to him. He was right next to the car in case something was to happen in those seconds, and anyways, the window were blackened and bulletproof. He opened the door and stepped out of the car, and went to fetch the newspaper with the money Joffrey gave him. He just paid for it and grabbed it, not bothering to take a look at the front page. He couldn't care less about what was happening in the world. If anything bad ever happened and he was needed, then he just received orders and obeyed. That was all that he needed to know about bad news, the rest didn't concern him.

He went back inside the car and handed the newspaper over to Joffrey. His boss grabbed it and took a look at the front page. Sandor looked ta him through the rear mirror again, and was surprised when he had the furious red color that he young man's face had turned. Joffrey's expression was that of pure rage and fury and hatred. He opened the newspaper and started reading some article, and the more that he read, the darker the shade of red that his face turned into.

"Clegane, go back to the Red Keep..." he hissed through clenched teeth. "Now."

His hands were shaking, his whole body was trembling. Sandor was incredibly curious: what could be so bad to put his boss in such a mood in mere seconds? Joffrey had taken a lot of shit in an occasion or two from the newspapers, and he had never given much importance to it. Now, however, he looked as if his deepest desire was to gut someone alive, cut off their heads and bathe in their blood and throw their gore at the dogs.

Sandor didn't react fast enough to Joffrey's orders, which just injuriated the young politician even more. He raised his eyes from the article he was reading to meet Sandor's in the mirror.

"NOW!" he yelled.

Sandor proceeded to obey. He wasn't a particularly nosy person, but he had to admit that he was dying of curiosity and he really wanted to now what that damn newspaper said that made Joffrey act like that. Few times had Sandor seen the young man in such a rage. Mad? of curse! But at that moment he seemed mental and psychotic!

It didn't take much longer to get to the Red Keep. Sandor parked the car at the entrance, where someone else would pick it up and drive it to the garage, and then he opened the door for Joffrey once he was outside of the vehicle. Joffrey raced past him and towards the main entrance of the mansion, and the butler opened them for him. Joffrey stormed inside, followed by Sandor.

"SANSA!" he roared. Sandor was taken aback by that. What the fuck did Sansa have to do with any of that.

Then it hit him.

Probably some fucking gossiping in an article that is not true, he thought, remembering the amount of times in which Joffrey had asked him if he was sure that he had not seen Sansa with any men while she wasn't in the company of her fiancé outside of the Red Keep.

Cersei Lannister appeared on the lobby of the mansion.

"Joffrey, what happened? Why are you yelling?"

Joffrey completely ignored his mother.

"SANSA!"

Two maids and the butler appeared in the lobby of the mansion, and were staring at their master with worried expressions on their faces upon seeing him in such a rage. Cersei kept trying to see what was wrong, her son kept ignoring her and he kept yelling his fiancée's name.

"SANSA!"

Finally she appeared at the top of the stairs. She looked down at her fiancée, confused. She was wearing normal clothes, jeans and a blouse, which meant that she had stayed in the entire day locked inside her room, as she used to do very often.

"Joffrey, what's happening? Why are you yelling?" she asked, as confused as everybody else.

"Come down here, Sansa" her fiancée hissed, and she obeyed. She started to walk down the stairs slowly and with caution.

"Is something wrong...?"

Joffrey didn't respond. He just waited for his future wife to reach the same place where he was standing. As soon as Sansa was in front of him, he raised his right hand, in which he was holding nothing, and slapped her full in the face with so much force that her head turned to the side and she fell to the ground.

Cersei just looked the scene unfold in front of her without even blinking. The maids and the butler gasped, but didn't do anything. Sandor was too much in shock to actually have any rational thoughts while he saw Sansa sobbing on the carpet, with her hand gently place on her quickly-swelling and red cheek.

After a few seconds passed, he was finally able to think.

What the fuck...?!

He had no idea what to do. He couldn't really do anything, Joffrey was his boss, but he couldn't let him beat an innocent girl because of something that fucking newspaper said! Joffrey grabbed Sansa's arm and for a second Sandor thought that he was going to hit her again but he just shook her violently, making her whimper.

"Stop...!"

Joffrey waved the newspaper in front of her face, so that she could see the front page. Sandor couldn't read what it said because Joffrey was shaking it too hard.

"Can you explain to me what does this mean?!"

"I don't know..." she sobbed. "Please..."

He was grabbing her arm to tightly that his knuckles were white and her skin was swollen and red, and there was a look of pain in her face and tears stinging behind her eyes. No one around interfered, but she didn't ask for help anyways. She didn't even seem to notice that there were people around her, staring at that awful scene happening in front of their eyes.

"You don't know?! LIAR!"

"I haven't seen them in months, you know that...!"

Finally, Cersei was the one that took a step forward, in an attempt to stop her son's mad rage. She placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from Sansa.

"Joffrey, come, you are very upset..." she told her son. At first it didn't look like Joffrey had any intention of letting go of the young woman's arm, but with his mother's insistence he finally let go of her. He was breathing heavily, like a wild beast. He pointed a menacing finger at Sansa.

"The Starks are going to be sorry for this" he said, and Sansa cringed.

"Come" Cersei said again. Then she looked at the butler and the two maids that were still staring behind them. "Well, what are you doing there?! Get back to work!"

They lowered their heads and left the lobby of the mansion, running off to do their chores. Joffrey threw the newspaper down to the floor with rage, and then he left with his mother without even looking at Sansa again.

"Take her to her room, dog" Joffrey muttered before leaving.

The bodyguard and the young woman were left alone in the lobby. The only thing that could be heard was Sansa sobbing quietly. She had out her arms around her body, trying to hug herself. Unsure of how to do, or how to react, Sandor took a few steps towards her.

He was burning inside. If there was one thing that he hated in that world apart from lies and hypocrites, it was people who abused of the weak. And mere moments ago, he had seen Joffrey Baratheon abusing of his defenseless fiancée and he hadn't done anything. No one had done anything.

When he reached Sansa's side, he stooped and extended his hand towards her, offering her his help to stand up. She didn't take it. Instead, she turned away from him almost angrily, hiding her face. Of course, it was normal if she was now angry at him. Sandor knew what it felt like to be hurt and that no one around you helped you.

However, he realized soon that he was wrong. Sansa wasn't mad at him, and he found that out when she spoke then. Her voice was a whisper.

"Don't" she said when she saw that he was offering her his hand again. Despite the fact that her voice was merely a whisper, it was very strong. Her voice wasn't shaking like her voice, and she wasn't sobbing anymore. "He doesn't like it when people help me. He will get mad at you."

It took only a moment to realize what her words meant. They meant that Joffrey was a vicious cunt. And they also meant that it wasn't the first time that he was violent with his future wife. Sansa was actually used to him hitting her.

"It's not from them from whom I need protection."

Now it made sense. She needed protection from Joffrey.

Sandor cursed under his breath.

"Joffrey can go and fuck himself" he rasped. He didn't wait for Sansa to give him an answer; he slipped an arm under her legs and placed the other one behind her back and he stood back up, raising her from the floor with him. He carried her up the stairs and down the hallways of the mansion until he found her bedroom. Sandor knew well the ways of the mansion, and didn't have to ask where to go. He delivered Sansa to the door of her bedroom and helped her stand on her feet.

Her face was a mess. Her tears had smudged her face with makeup, and her cheek was red and swollen. It looked painful, but the girl was managing to pull a brave expression. Sandor felt pity for her, and anger towards his boss.

"Thank you" Sansa whispered when she was standing on her feet In front of the door of her bedroom.

"Why did he do that?" he wanted to know.

Sansa shrugged.

"For the same reason as always" she said.

"Always?" Sandor asked, alarmed. "When did this start?"

Sansa opened the door of her bedroom and stepped inside. Once she was standing behind the door, ready to close it, she looked at him again. Her eyes were empty... there was no light in them. Sandor had never seen eyes so sad.

"When my father died" Sansa responded then to his question, and she closed the door in his face.

Sandor was left there alone, and his thoughts were a mess in his head. So the little shit had been hitting his fiancée for quite some time now, and the girl still stuck up with him.

She's staying with him because of the money and the power. It has to be that, he thought. It was the only reasonable explanation as to why Sansa wold continue with her plans on marrying Joffrey. She clearly cold have any man that she wanted, but she had chose to stay with him and endure his behavior...

Now the question was why did he hit her? Clearly, something in the newspaper had triggered Joffrey's anger, he had been very calm until, then. In fact, he had been very calm the entire week! Sandor decided to get the answer for that question, and he walked all the way back through the hallways and down the stairs to the lobby. The newspaper was still lying forgotten on the carpet of the lobby floor, and he picked it up. It only took one single glance to get the answer to his question. It was no surprise now that Joffrey had been so angered.

Governor Robb Stark Rises in Political Campaign for Presidency.